Rock Bridge golfer plans community volunteer work

COLUMBIA — Whether Caraline Trecha is at golf practice, soccer practice or at school, she is bursting with energy. Now, Trecha hopes to put that energy toward a good purpose.

Already a part of the Rock Bridge Reaches Out program at the high school, the sophomore hopes to follow her brothers and start a sub-group of her own.

Next match

The Rock Bridge girls golf team faces Moberly and Helias at 4 p.m. Thursday at Moberly Country Club.

Rock Bridge Reaches Out is an organization that consists of several different groups that get students involved in volunteering in the Columbia community. Students have a variety of choices, whether it is helping out at the food bank or the Ronald McDonald House.

Trecha was introduced to the program before she was even in high school, when her oldest brother Raleigh Trecha started a program called Wheelers and Dealers. Students visit senior centers to play bingo or poker and spend time with the elderly. Since then, Caraline Trecha’s other brother Michael Trecha, a senior, has taken over.

Caraline Trecha said she finds the work she and her family does humbling.

“It’s all about helping people that need it more than I do,” Caraline Trecha said. “I feel good to reach out my hand. It makes me feel less selfish and like I gave my share to the community.”

With Michael Trecha set to graduate, Caraline Trecha said she wants to start a group of her own.

“I want to do something similar to Big Brothers Big Sisters, except I want to focus on sports,” Caraline Trecha said. “There would be a few children assigned to a couple high school students, and they would be one team. Then we could have the teams face each other in different sports like volleyball, soccer, basketball or any other sports.”

Caraline Trecha said she hopes to improve the children's lives and morals.

“I think it is really beneficial to spend time with good role models,” Caraline Trecha said. “The students can teach the kids good sportsmanship and give them advice about sports etiquette.”

Sophomore Morgan Reimler, a teammate on the golf team, said she thinks the program will put children in a proper environment.

“Playing sports with the kids will teach them what it is like to be a part a team and how to act in that sort of family setting,” Reimler said. “It teaches them how they should act and will make things easier for them later.”

Rock Bridge golf coach Melissa Melahn said she sees Caraline Trecha as the right person for the job.

“She is the most energetic person on the team,” Melahn said. “She comes to practice every day with a lot of energy and is very enthusiastic about sports. She has the perfect attitude to get kids excited and involved about sports.”

Caraline Trecha isn’t the only golfer involved in the Reach Out organization. Several of her teammates said it is important to help out when possible.

Reimler, who used to attend a private school, said she was always told to think about others before yourself.

“The program is amazing,” Reimler said. “They go out and find people who need help and do what they can to help them. For the Ronald McDonald House, the groups cook food for different families and take it to their houses. It really shows the family that there are people who care and gives them somebody to comfort them.”

Melahn said she thinks volunteering would also be a good way for the golf team to work together in a situation off the course.

“I think that the program would help the team to learn to support one another better,” Melahn said. “It is important for them to think outside of themselves, and even outside the team into the community. It also helps to ground them a bit. No matter how bad they are doing in golf, or school or in their personal lives, it shows them that others have it a lot worse than they do.”